Meet the “What Inspires You?” Judging Panel

“What Inspires You?”

Meet Our Dream Panel of Judges

DesignSherpa has assembled a talented and diverse team of judges with unwavering design credentials and sensibility. They spend their days working at the top echelon of their professions in design journalism, design education, interior, and fashion design.  They have agreed to lend their good eyes and creative minds to a  six month What Inspires You? judging process.  We are pleased to introduce the judges to all of our entrants and contest followers:

DIANE CARROLL: A veteran design journalist, Carroll joined the Network Communications, Inc., team in 2009 as Editor in Chief of At Home in Arkansas, a highly successful statewide design publication that she and her staff have transitioned into a regional design resource with a thriving online audience and strong social media presence.

Previously, Carroll served as a regional editor and ongoing contributor for a variety of residential design publications, including Metropolitan Home, Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, Renovation Style, Kitchen and Bath Ideas, and a wide range of specialty magazines. In her 15-year stint as a regional editor based in Dallas, her stories graced the covers of House Beautiful, Metropolitan Home and Traditional Home numerous times. Working with Meredith Publications, Carroll’s work was also featured in multiple books, including Discovering Home, New Classic Style and Real-Life Decorating.

TOBI FAIRLEY: Selected by Traditional Home Magazine as one of the Top 20 Young Designers in America for 2009, Fairley has a signature look that is fresh and simple combining colorful, large-scale geometric prints with classic furniture styles for a beautiful and functional result. Since establishing her firm a decade ago, Fairley’s projects have spanned the southern region and the nation from Charleston to Los Angeles. Her award-winning designs for high-profile and celebrity clients have been featured on HGTV and published in Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens special publications, and have graced the cover of At Home in Arkansas Magazine 6 times.

Fairley’s design blog, which chronicles the happenings at her luxury residential design firm and highlights her favorite things, has gained immediate popularity since its launch in September 2008. She is currently working on product designs for several companies that will be introduced in 2010 and has become a popular speaker at industry events across the nation sharing both her business and blog successes.

MICHAEL FINK: Currently the dean of the new School of Fashion at The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Fink was named to the post in the fall of 2009.  Prior to his appointment at SCAD, he was vice president and women’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue where he was responsible for forecasting women’s seasonal trends as well as analyzing and supporting the women’s fashion and women’s accessories selection for stores nationwide. He also developed product, both private label and branded, and played a key role in integrating the seasonal fashion message into his Saks.com series “Front Row at the Shows,” marketing concepts, advertising and windows.

Fink has toured extensively throughout the country lecturing on fashion trends. A fashion expert in local, national and international media, Fink was a frequent commentator on “Full Frontal Fashion,” and also appeared on “The Today Show,” CNN and as a fashion adviser on “The Apprentice.” He has been featured in The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, Time Magazine (India), and Marie Claire, among others.
ELAINE GRIFFIN: A Yale–educated native of Georgia (B.A., Art History) who studied postgraduate at the New York School of Interior Design, Elaine began her design career in the office of architectural behemoth Peter Marino. She is a contributing editor of Elle Decor and is ranked as one of House Beautiful’s Top 100 American Designers. A participant in the 2003 Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse, Elaine’s work has been featured in publications including Elle Decor, House Beautiful, the New York Times, Daily News and Post, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Accents, New York magazine, and Oprah’s O at Home.  Elaine’s first book, Design Rules: The Professional’s Guide to Do-It-Yourself Home Style, was published by Gotham Books in Fall 2009.

MARCIA SHERRILL: A member of the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America, Sherrill’s handbag designs are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection at The Costume Institute. She served on the board of The Fashion Institute of Technology’s Accessories Department for 15 years. Her designs have been featured over 700 times in W, Women’s Wear Daily, Elle, InStyle, Vogue, Style.com, Harpers Bazaar, Self, Mirabella, Lucky, The New York Times, Town & Country, Departures and Travel & Leisure, among others.

Sherrill is co-author of the ground-breaking Portraits of Hope, the first book focused on breast cancer survivors from every age, race and gender. Her next work, Stylemakers: Inside Fashion, featured the insider personalities that drive the fascinating world of fashion. Beginning as a writer and contributing editor for New York’s Avenue and the Hamptons Country magazines for 6 years, Sherrill writes for Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles and has also written for Elle Décor, Southern Accents and House Beautiful.

CLINTON SMITH: An award-winning journalist and the Editorial Director of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Smith has covered the fields of style, design and travel for a decade. Under his leadership, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles has garnered numerous awards and accolades, including a Gold GAMMA for Best Design from the Magazine Association of the Southeast. In 2006, he was personally awarded the Media Award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Georgia Chapter. Smith is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Journalism at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), his alma mater. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Museum of Design Atlanta and is a member of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, as well as the Atlanta Press Club.
Smith’s versatility as a writer has led him to pen articles on a number of lifestyle topics— from dog spas to pretty paint palettes. An established authority on matters of taste and style, Smith has been quoted frequently in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on style and design-related articles, made numerous TV appearances on WXIA-TV (NBC) and Fox 5’s Good Day Atlanta, and spoken at numerous events at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and AmericasMart.